In the words of Eddie Griffin, "Yes Indeedy, Feed the Needy." The transformation is complete.

We have now returned to the grand ole Teal Era.

Congratulations Pistons fans you now have a mediocre, soft, Minnesota Timberwolves East! Now we can get to talking about all the things we "could do" to be great instead of actually being great.

First, I'd like to thank Mr. Bill Davidson and Flip Saunders. You did it boys. You managed to not only waste the best defensive player in recent history over the course of a full season and into the playoffs, you also kicked off the most important free agent period in recent history as if it was the year of the Juwan Howard sweepstakes.

How do you come out of the gate and LOW-BALL your MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER???!!! Geeze guys, you'd think Ben Wallace was Allan Houston leading us to the height of average-ness. What the hell were you thinking? Even if you didn't give him the max YOU DON'T COME OUT OF THE GATE WITH A NICKLE AND DIME NEGOTIATING FIGURE LIKE 11.6 OVER 4!

Good job Mr. D. You managed to keep your bank account intact, believing that your 2004 championship was not a stroke of good fortune, but a standard for how to win titles. While you're at it scrooge, why don't you just re-hire Rick Sund and George Irvine? Then, "Your journey to the Dark Side will be complete."

It's bad enough I had to suffer through fans complaining that Big Ben was useless because he wasn't a 20 point scorer, now I get to watch the NBA lay-up line during every Pistons broadcast because you feel, no one should be highly paid...well, except for you of course.

Thank you for returning my team to the days when Terry Mills manned the center position. I like Sheed, but he isn't making a career of stopping guys from going to the hole at will.

Congrats Mr. Stern, you will no longer have to worry about a defensive powerhouse stopping your baby Wade from making 498 posters during an 82 game season.

Congrats NBA fans, you can have all the high scoring games you like with no fear of having the game slowed to a point where everyone actually tries.

Congrats, Pistons fans, you finally get your wish. We can now chase a 20 point scorer in the post that will probably only average 12 and give up 18.

Congrats Darko worshippers, you can now get on your pulpit and preach the virtues of giving away 7ft. of driftwood.

A special shout out goes to Flip Saunders who has successfully sent my favorite player to the team I hate more than tomatoes, mosquitoes, or Oprah & Dr. Phil.

Way to go, genius.

You were handed one of the 3 best teams in the NBA and you managed to ruin them in one full season. That's more impressive than the Knicks. Hell, at least the Knicks sucked BEFORE Zeke and LB got there. Only you could turn a solid NBA franchise into a bunch of defenseless, jump shooting, laughing stocks that almost get eliminated in the 2nd round of the playoffs by King Jim and the silhouettes.

Only you could come in and from day one, refuse to even think about what may need to be accomplished on defense by uttering the phrase that told me it would end like this, "Oh, these guys, they know how to play defense so it will be there." Not only did you not work on the defense, you completely tossed it out the window.

I knew you were a bad choice and now as my team has returned to mediocrity, your lack of coaching ability will be exposed in plain view.

The only 2 people on earth that saw this coming were 1) Me and 2) BenWallace.

First of all, I hold no power within the Pistons organization, the media, or even this forum for that matter. However, the ONE PERSON everyone should have been listening to is the one person everyone saw fit to pile on when things turned south. Ben has repeatedly voiced his concern and/or displeasure with the direction of the team. Did that warrant any change or even light assessment of his opinion? NOOOOOO.....instead let's act like whether or not a guy goes 1-6 or 4-6 from the line is the determining factor in whether or not we get pounded 50-16 Points in the Paint or shoot under 40% from the field in the playoffs.

The game plan this team tried to employ was flawed from the start and proven to be unsuccessful in dozens of previous examples judging by the fate of oh say....Last year's PHX Suns, or 2004's IndianaPacers, this year's Red Wings, and even the Indianapolis Colts. Running up a ridiculous amount of regular season wins is useless if you're team is not prepared or even equipped to be successful in the postseason.

But hey, who cares...the team looks really good and if you're winning with bad habits they can't come back to bite you, right?

Well, I guess I'll ponder that question when I am watching my favorite player block shots for the team I hate more than anything.

Low....u know how close we are bro! I couldnt even start athread cuz my fingers hurt just typing this. U read my mind but most importantly, like a real Piston fan who REMEMBERS the TEAL days, u felt my pain. I...cant finish.....ok..lemme say this ...my mother and bro is in town and the news came on..i cried in shock of the reality and started lacing profanities...the best thing was : my girlfriend had my back!! She said "yall dont see greg on the forum every game defending and supporting Ben and his team!"...thatmade me feel validated...but I have the brokeningest heart of any one in North america,,,,,,,,,,,,, :Cry: kill me...................................................

Low....u know how close we are bro! I couldnt even start athread cuz my fingers hurt just typing this. U read my mind but most importantly, like a real Piston fan who REMEMBERS the TEAL days, u felt my pain. I...cant finish.....ok..lemme say this ...my mother and bro is in town and the news came on..i cried in shock of the reality and started lacing profanities...the best thing was : my girlfriend had my back!! She said "yall dont see greg on the forum every game defending and supporting Ben and his team!"...thatmade me feel validated...but I have the brokeningest heart of any one in North america,,,,,,,,,,,,, :Cry: kill me...................................................

Click to expand...

Tell me about it. It's almost like you'd rather not have this team winning titles because it's a sure sign that Davidson will blow it up the minute someone's contract comes up.

The decline is evident tho. Since the title we've lost Big Nasty, Memo, Mike James, a wasted lottery pick, and now Ben. The only notable replacement is Dice. That's a LOT of talent lost with no return.

Somebody tell Joe its time to pull outta this nosedive. I ain't for crashin or burnin.

The decline is evident tho. Since the title we've lost Big Nasty, Memo, Mike James, a wasted lottery pick, and now Ben. The only notable replacement is Dice. That's a LOT of talent lost with no return.

Somebody tell Joe its time to pull outta this nosedive. I ain't for crashin or burnin.

so Low, I guess you don't like Flip and you wanted Ben to stay, huh? Very emotional piece, but sometimes these posts are needed. Although I don't agree, I have the same fears that this team is going back to averageness again... step by step...

I wish someone would ask Joe and co. why there was no effort made and interest shown in re-signing Ben. Ben was let go not simply out bid for. The let go part, without any explanation, angers me. Your star is fading Joe.

so Low, I guess you don't like Flip and you wanted Ben to stay, huh? Very emotional piece, but sometimes these posts are needed. Although I don't agree, I have the same fears that this team is going back to averageness again... step by step...

Click to expand...

Well, it's just one of those things that I think have been pointed out as bad for us (Bouncing LB, focusing on offense, AND not competing for Ben) and continues to not work yet, everyone seems to be happy with it. It's almost like people would rather not be the best and talk about things we "could do" instead of actually doing what made them successful and helped them win.

Isn't is possible that Joe didn't want Ben back? Ben became a disruption to the team and his talent was clearly on the downside. I also think Joe is not happy with Flip and his inability to adjust and give the bench some burn. I think Joe is OK with stepping back for a year to see which youngsters will develop and then make some moves next summer.

In about 4 months, we went from a dreaded powerhouse to just another good team. I agree. You can't let the owner off the hook either. Stern is feeling good, too. The no defense NBA.

The problem is once you fall fall back into the pack it is hard to get up and above it again. It is very hard to reach the elite level in the NBA. And I don't see how we are going to get better with no cap space.